After over 15 years with a traditional scoreboard, Parkway decided it was time to replace it with a new, technologically-advanced one.

“It can do anything you see at a professional or collegiate game,” Activities Director Brian Kessler said. “It does live video – it’s high-def video. It can do replays, it can run ads; we got a new sound system with it.”

West was one of four Parkway schools to receive a scoreboard, costing the district over one million dollars. Each scoreboard cost about $400,000 individually.

“It’s being paid for by the corporate sponsorships we are getting. We signed an agreement with Kelly Sports Properties. They, with Parkway, go out and sell ad space on the video boards. That ad space pays for the scoreboards,” Kessler said.

Opponents to the new scoreboards complain that it cost Parkway too much money. According to Parkway’s Director of Finance, Brian Whittle, soccer uniforms cost a player around $150 to $200. The cost of one scoreboard would equal paying for approximately 2,285 soccer players’ uniforms. Of course, this was not actually a possible use for the money brought in through advertisements, but it does illustrate the immense cost of the scoreboard.

“No tax dollars are being spent on the scoreboard,” Kessler said. “I think the district will have it paid off in three or four years [through advertising].”

So far, the ads have already earned Parkway three quarters of a million dollars, according to Fox 2 News.

“[Scoreboards] may become a trend in the future to obtain supplemental revenue that’s not available through tax dollars,” Director of Communication Paul Tandy told West News Magazine.

Parkway also plans for the scoreboard to do more than just make money and provide entertainment; they want to be able to involve students in managing the scoreboard.

“[The scoreboard] allows students here, who don’t necessarily love athletics but love video production or computer graphics and animation, to get involved in real life applications outside of just sitting in a classroom,” Kessler said.

Kessler hopes that students will be able to use skills from working with the scoreboard to the real world.

“Kids who really get involved with this will be able to leave Parkway West and go apply it to the Cardinals or the Blues or Mizzou because they are using the same program, so they may have the opportunity to intern somewhere and have something for their resume,” Kessler said. “It’s really a cool opportunity for students who are into that kind of thing.”